Mitt Romney: My Health Care Plan Was Better Than Obama's

08/23/2012 04:45 pm ET

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AP/The Huffington Post

DENVER -- Mitt Romney said in an interview Thursday that his plan to provide health insurance to everyone in Massachusetts was superior to the one it inspired, President Obama's much-debated national health care law.

The reporter, Shaun Boyd, said she was barred from asking questions about abortion or Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) who created a firestorm over claiming that victims of "legitimate rape" can't get pregnant.

The law signed by Romney in 2006 sought to expand health care but did not create universal insurance.

Romney and Massachusetts lawmakers decided that rather than reinvent the entire health care system, the law would instead close a series of holes, allowing the vast majority of residents to keep their existing plans.

While Massachusetts residents are required to have insurance, the law provides certain exemptions.

Those who can show they earn too much to qualify for the state's subsidized health care plan, but not enough to afford even the least expensive nonsubsidized plan, are not required to pay the so-called "individual mandate."

State officials say about 400,000 residents have become insured since the law took effect. More than 98 percent of Massachusetts residents are now insured, including nearly all children.

The law Romney signed also created an unelected board – known as the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority Board – which oversees an independent state agency that decides what level of insurance complies with the state law.

The agency can also exempt people whose financial hardships prevent them from enrolling in health insurance.

Obama's plan was modeled on Romney's, which has made some conservatives wary of the former Massachusetts governor. Some GOP activists were angered when a Romney spokeswoman touted the Massachusetts plan on Fox News earlier this month.

In Thursday's interview, one of a series the presumptive Republican presidential nominee gave local broadcast outlets in swing states, Romney was asked how he'd appeal to women voters on health care and other issues. The Obama campaign has been pounding Romney for his stances on birth control, abortion and other women's issues.

Romney replied by talking about how he'd improve the economy and education. Then he shifted to health care, saying it was "a big issue."

Romney also laughed off concerns that a hurricane could disrupt the Republican National Convention in Tampa next week. "The winds of change are coming," he said, "so we're looking forward to it."

Lies And Distortions Of The Health Care Debate

Lies And Distortions Of The Health Care Debate

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Healthcare In America Is Already 'The Best In The World'

One of the more positive sounding admonitions from health care reform opponents was that the United States had "the best health care in the world," so why would you mess with it? Well, it's true that if you want the experience the pinnacle of medical care, you come to the United States. And if you want the pinnacle of haute cuisine, you go to Per Se. If you want the pinnacle of commercial air travel, you get a first class seat on British Airways. Now, naturally, you wouldn't let just anyone mess with someone's tasting menu or state-of-the-art air-beds. But like anything that's "the best," the best health care in the world isn't for everybody. The costs are prohibitively high, the access is prohibitively exclusive, and the resources are prohibitively scarce.
What do the people in America who "fly coach" in the health care system get? Well, at the time of the health care reform debate, they were participating in a system that was, by all objective measurements, overpriced and underperforming -- if you were lucky enough to be participating in it. As anyone who's fortunate enough to have employer based health care or unfortunate enough to have a pre-existing condition can tell you, health care for ordinary people already involved all of those things that we were told would be a feature of the Affordable Care Act -- long waits, limited choice, and rationing.
When the Commonwealth Fund rated health care systems by nation, the top marks in the surveyed categories went to the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Netherlands. Ezra Klein examined the study, and observed:
"The issue isn't just that we don't have universal health care. Our delivery system underperforms, too. 'Even when access and equity measures are not considered, the U.S. ranks behind most of the other countries on most measures. With the inclusion of primary care physician survey data in the analysis, it is apparent that the U.S. is lagging in adoption of national policies that promote primary care, quality improvement, and information technology.'"